I shot, captured and edited my commercial in 16:9. But everytime I export to tape, it ends up 4:3 aspect ratio. I am using premiere pro 2.0. My camera is a Canon XL2 with the aspect ratio switch on 16:9.

Am I missing something?

I want the client to get his tape in 16:9, not 4:3. Why won't it do this! Ahhg!

Just had to vent.

You help would be appreciated.

Al
www.advideoproductions.com

Several things come to mind, sorry if you know this already:
- Check your export options for pixel ratio DV/Widescreen
- 16:9 DV records as 4:3 picture but you apply pixel ratio for widescreen. Picture is distorted but after applying proper aspect ratio on import, you get 16:9.
- if you want the 16:9 with stripes above and below you need to put your 16:9 picture into 4:3 project, downsize it, export and record it like this. You will be loosing your resolution though.

Uhgg! I don't want to do that.

I don't understand why Premiere doesn't have an option to set the aspect ratio when you "export to tape." Does the latest version have it?

Or how about using a different program to export to tape?

I could also make a DVD, then play it and record on the camera, but there again I will lose resolution.

It's frustrating. I should be able to use the "export to tape" function and record in 16:9.

I have watched the 4:3 version that got exported, and it looks okay. It's not as good as the original 16:9, but it works well. So I might just give the client the 4:3 version.

Thanks for the suggestion. If there is another way to make this work, please let me know.

Al

Okay. I did it. It wasn't that much work. Aftwards, I compared the two. I think there was a slight loss in contrast at the extremes whites and darks, if any at all. A far better choice than to have used the 4:3, which wasn't how it was shot or edited.

Since my final products tend to be more on DVD than tape, I can't see why I should change the way I edit.

I saw a not from someone else in another thread who said they were going to start import their 16:9 footage directly into a 4:3 project and work with it from there, becuase they felt all they were doing was adding a step.

Not really certain which is best. But I am glad I took the time to put it on the tape as 16:9 (which I understand I truly didn't do. I just put in a 4:3 that had a 16:9 clip on it).

Thanks for the help.

Al

If you are putting it out on DVD, there is no sense in downscaling it for 4:3 letterbox. Just export it as DV with Widescreen pixel ratio, and encode it as 16:9. Everything will be ok and you will not be loosing any resolution.

I don't see much sense in recording to 4:3 letterbox anyway unless you are like us and publish 16:9 movies for 4:3 screen in SD TV stations that require 4:3 image.

Thank you. Actually, yes. It was for a TV station. So I just put the clip in a new project that was set up in 4:3, then I exported to tape and it looked great, maybe just the slightest loss or washing out of the whites is all I noticed.

Al